Table of Contents

North Carolina Highway Traffic Study, 2000-2001 (ICPSR 4078)

Principal Investigator(s):
Zingraff, Matthew, North Carolina State University;
Smith, William, North Carolina State University;
Tomaskovic-Devey, Donald, North Carolina State University

Summary:

This study investigated whether the North Carolina State
Highway Patrol (NCSHP) practiced racial profiling. The NCSHP provided
data on all vehicular stops (Parts 1 and 2), written warnings (Part
3), and citations (Part 4) its officers issued in 2000. This included
data on what the stops or tickets were for, the race, sex, and age of
the driver, and the make, model, and year of the car being driven.
Data on accidents in 2000 (Part 5), also obtained from the NCSHP, were
used to examine whether there were racial disparities in unsafe
driving practices. These data included information about what caused
the accident and the race, sex, and age of the driver. The NCSHP also
supplied data on all officers who worked for the NCSHP in 2000 (Part
6), including their race, age, and rank. The data in Part 6 can be
linked to the data in Parts 3 and 4. In addition, two surveys of North
Carolina drivers were conducted to gather information on reported
typical driving behaviors that may influence the probability of being
stopped, and to gather information about stops conducted by law
enforcement agencies across the state. One was conducted using a
sample of North Carolina drivers who had recently renewed their
licenses (Part 7), and the other used a sample of North Carolina
drivers who were ticketed for speeding between June 1, 1999, and June
1, 2000 (Part 8).

This study investigated whether the North Carolina State
Highway Patrol (NCSHP) practiced racial profiling. The NCSHP provided
data on all vehicular stops (Parts 1 and 2), written warnings (Part
3), and citations (Part 4) its officers issued in 2000. This included
data on what the stops or tickets were for, the race, sex, and age of
the driver, and the make, model, and year of the car being driven.
Data on accidents in 2000 (Part 5), also obtained from the NCSHP, were
used to examine whether there were racial disparities in unsafe
driving practices. These data included information about what caused
the accident and the race, sex, and age of the driver. The NCSHP also
supplied data on all officers who worked for the NCSHP in 2000 (Part
6), including their race, age, and rank. The data in Part 6 can be
linked to the data in Parts 3 and 4. In addition, two surveys of North
Carolina drivers were conducted to gather information on reported
typical driving behaviors that may influence the probability of being
stopped, and to gather information about stops conducted by law
enforcement agencies across the state. One was conducted using a
sample of North Carolina drivers who had recently renewed their
licenses (Part 7), and the other used a sample of North Carolina
drivers who were ticketed for speeding between June 1, 1999, and June
1, 2000 (Part 8).

Guidelines for Applying for Restricted Data

Before you begin an application you will need the following information to complete the form

General Requirements:

appointment at research institution; appointment must be under the jurisdiction of the receiving institution

degree requirements (possibly doctorate)

Must be submitted:

project description

IRB approval

approved security plan

roster of research and IT staff who can access or view the data or computer where data are hosted.

confidentiality pledges for all people on roster

Some require:

CV's

A downloadable version of data for this study is available however, certain identifying information in the downloadable version may have been masked or edited to protect respondent privacy. Additional data not included in the downloadable version are available in a restricted version of this data collection. For more information about the differences between the downloadable data and the restricted data for this study, please refer to the codebook notes section of the PDF codebook. Users interested in obtaining restricted data must complete and sign a Restricted Data Use Agreement, describe the research project and data protection plan, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.

Any public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public.
Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

Universe:
Part 1: All vehicular stops initiated by the NCSHP from
January through July 2000. Part 2: All vehicular stops initiated by
the NCSHP from August through December 2000. Part 3: All written
warnings issued by the NCSHP in 2000. Part 4: All citations issued by
the NCSHP in 2000. Part 5: All accidents for which the NCSHP filed a
report in 2000. Part 6: Officers in the NCSHP in 2000. Part 7:
Licensed drivers in North Carolina. Part 8: North Carolina drivers who
were ticketed for speeding between June 1, 1999, and June 1, 2000.

Methodology

Study Purpose:
This study investigated whether the North
Carolina State Highway Patrol (NCSHP) practiced racial profiling. The
research aimed to answer four basic questions: (1) Do NCSHP troopers
stop minorities, particularly African Americans, on the road at higher
rates that they stop Whites? (2) Once stopped, do African Americans
and Whites experience different rates for citations, written warnings,
and searches? (3) What factors might account for highway stops? and
(4) How do African Americans and other ethnic minorities experience
and respond to traffic stops? and (5) Is there any racial disparity in
violations of traffic laws?

Study Design:
The project began in 1999 when the North Carolina
State Legislature mandated that the NCSHP assemble data on the racial
distribution of all vehicular stops initiated by officers. The NCSHP
provided official data for the year 2000 on vehicular stops, written
warnings, citations, and accidents. Part 1 consists of data on all
stops between January and July 2000. Part 2 contains data on all stops
between August and December 2000. Part 3 contains data on all written
warnings issued between January and December 2000. Part 4 contains
data on all citations issued between January and August 2000. Part 5
contains data from NCSHP accident files for all accidents that
occurred in 2000. Part 6 contains all roster records of active and
inactive officers of NCSHP in 2000. Part 7 contains data from a survey
of 2,920 North Carolina licensed drivers, including 1,445 African
Americans and 1,475 Whites. The survey was administered by the Public
Opinion Laboratory at Northern Illinois University. The survey
collected information on reported typical driving behaviors that may
influence the probability of being stopped. In addition, the survey
asked respondents whether they were stopped in the last year, why they
were stopped, the outcome of the stop, and how they were treated. The
survey was conducted by telephone between June 22, 2000, and March 20,
2001. Part 8 contains data from a survey of 605 North Carolina
residents who were ticketed for speeding between June 1, 1999, and
June 1, 2000. Interviews were conducted by the Public Opinion
Laboratory at Northern Illinois University over telephone between July
2000 and March 2001. One week before the initial telephone contact
attempt, letters were sent to each of the people in the sample. The
letter explained that the survey focused on the driving experiences of
people in North Carolina and their observations of other drivers on
North Carolina roads.

Sample:
Parts 1-6: Not applicable. Part 7: The survey sample was
stratified by race. The sampling frame included White and African
American drivers who had applied for or renewed their licenses in the
previous six months. Part 8: The sample was drawn from a list of names
provided by the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts. It
was weighted in order to have approximately one-half African American
respondents and one-half White respondents.

Data Source:

Data in Parts 1 through 6 were obtained from NCSHP
records. Data in Parts 7 and 8 were obtained through surveys of North
Carolina drivers.

Description of Variables:
Variables in Part 1 include stop date, time,
purpose, county, interstate number or road name where stop occurred,
mile post where stop occurred, state where vehicle was registered,
vehicle year, make, and model, driver age, sex, and gender, action
taken by the officer, whether contraband was found if a search was
performed, and the age, sex, and race of up to four passengers.
Variables in Part 2 include stop date, time, officer action, and the
city where the stop occurred. Variables in Part 3 include date of the
violation, highway type, county, charge, and the offender's race and
sex. Variables in Part 4 include county of violation, status of
citation, type of accident, type of highway, specific highway where
the offense occurred, date and time of the offense, the first two
offense codes on the citation, charged speed, speed limit of zone,
race and sex of the offender, state of the offender's driver's
license, vehicle type, date scheduled for court, and the county where
the case was heard. Variables in Part 5 include whether the record
applies to a driver, occupant, or victim, date, time, and day of the
week of the accident, county, specific highway accident occurred on,
number of vehicles and people involved, number killed and injured,
predominant development type of area, road features, type of road,
crash type, contributing circumstances, vehicle maneuver that led to
accident, object struck, type of vehicle, vehicle defects, speed
limit, driver's race, sex, and age, whether driver intoxication was
suspected, and occupants' race, sex, and age. Variables in Part 6
include officer's rank, race, age, county, whether officer was active,
and what training the officer had completed. Variables in Part 7
include driver's birth year, race, and sex, number miles driven in a
typical week, miles driven last year, how often the respondent drove
on highways, questions about common driving habits, number of times
police stopped to help respondent in the last year, times pulled over
by police in the last year, make, model, and year of the car
respondent drove most often, answers to questions about the last three
times the respondent was pulled over in the last year, including car
being driven, when stop occurred, type of road, type of officer,
reason for stop, whether a ticket was received, and behavior of
officer, number of times stopped in lifetime, experience of
respondent's friends and family with being pulled over by the police,
what types of people the respondent thought were most likely to get
pulled over, respondent's confidence in the police, respondent's
education, and whether respondent owned or rented. Variables in Part 8
include driver's birth year, sex, and race, number miles driven in a
typical week, miles driven last year, how often the respondent drove
on highways, whether respondent practiced a set of common driving
habits, what types of people the respondent thought were most likely
to get pulled over, number of times pulled over in last year, number
of times pulled over in the last year for speeding, answers to
questions about the last three times the respondent was pulled over
for speeding in the last year, including car being driven, when the
stop occurred, type of officer, speed officer said respondent was
going, speed limit, and whether respondent was ticketed, respondent's
education, and whether respondent owned or rented.